Charles Jones, a 43-year-old architect, is readying himself for a somewhat late debut into the pro ranks as the country's first out and proud gay boxer.

"I'm not a gay man who happens to box," he insists. "I'm a boxer who happens to be gay and doesn't give a toss who knows it."

Hailing from South London, where he trains at The Ring gym, he added: "Once I'm in the ring I want to give a good account of myself and send my opponent back to the dressing room knowing that he has been in a fight."

And his trainer Mark Burford, who came up with the nickname 'The Pink Pounder', says: "None of the lads in the gym give a stuff about him being gay, if anything they respect him for having the guts to turn around and say what he is."

Of course, Jones is certainly not the first gay boxer, just the first one to come out and not try and hide it.

It's well known in boxing circles that at least one top British boxer, who reached world championship level in the last 15 years, was gay though chose not to advertise the fact.

It's sad that he felt he couldn't come out, though we must respect his reasons for not doing so in what is a very personal decision.

Evidently he felt it would harm his ticket sales and appeal though Jones has reaped a whirlwind of publicity through not hiding his sexuality.

It's publicity that boxers need more than anything else as it's probably the only sport in the world where, if you don't go out and sell the tickets yourself, you don't fight and you don't get paid.

So, in a sport (or entertainment business) where nearly anything goes if it puts bums on seats it's a shrewd move from Jones and we must hope it encourages more people to have the courage not only to strap on the gloves but also to be honest.

But the image of a tough sportsman doesn't fit well with the stereotyped image of a gay man, which probably explains why we can name so few who have come out at the top level, only the unfortunate footballer Justin Fashanu, who met a sticky end, springs to mind.

Boxing, for publicity purposes, is probably the only sport in the world where it's an advantage to proclaim yourself to be different from the norm.

And it's one of the game's paradoxes that, for all its tough-guy image, its doors are more than open to women boxing, gay people boxing, in fact anybody boxing if people will pay to watch it.

And, after all, so what? Who cares?

Unfortunately, of course, when 20,000 young men are gathered together under the influence of drink it only takes one homophobic jeer to set everyone off in a herd mentality.

I've seen it happen with Junior Witter, who faces Ricky Hatton this summer in what promises to be a fight of the year. Hatton's fans hate him and are convinced he's gay. I can personally confirm that he is not, having met his girlfriend, but that's not the point.

The accusations against Witter are probably more to do with the fact that his name rhymes with a particularly choice slang term than anything else.

And of course Lennox Lewis was not too happy to be described as 'gay' by Hasim Rahman in the build-up to their second fight.

Rahman considered that taking legal action to ensure a re-match was 'a gay thing to do' and tried to wriggle out of it by claiming it was just a street term meaning 'soft'.

In fact, he was blatantly trying to wind up Lennox, long plagued by rumours that he is 'not as other men'.

It worked too, but obviously not in the way Rahman wanted it to as he hit the canvas and disappeared back into obscurity.

Lennox answered him in the best way possible and there was absolutely no excuse for Rahman's remarks, which were reprehensible.

So good luck to Jones. Once you're inside those four posts for the first time it's a whole different world and the only thing that will matter is what he does with his fists.

But, if he loses, it won't be for a lack of any courage, moral or physical.

THANKS to Steve Bendall fan Kevin Ashby for pointing out a typographical error which slipped through the system the other week and apologies to Bobby Arthur, who I inadvertently missed out in the list of British champions from Coventry in the Gareth Payne story recently.

Bobby, who runs a stall on Coventry market, won the British title at welterweight when he beat the great John H Stracey, disqualified for an alleged low blow, in 1972.